12V Electrics

mikeody · Veteran Member

12V Electrics

dave06 · Guru

on your van mike have you got a "storage bin" if so you could easily place a battery in there

the easiest and cheapest way is to have an "on board" battery charger mounted alongside the battery and plugged in to the normal caravan internal plug, then when you plug the van in it will automatically charge the battery

it would then be a simple matter of running a couple of wires off the terminals through a 20 amp fuse and on to a cigarette lighter socket, from that to your waeco fridge, this can easily be extended and built upon to include lights, inverters and stereos and disco lights as necessary at any stage

with an average 80 - 100 amp hour battery I foresee an easy 2 night stay without draining the van battery

this setup can be easily extended to include a line coming from the motor vehicle via an Anderson plug and a battery isolator setup at a later stage

Cupie · Guru

G'day Mike & Sue ..

What Dave says is spot on.

I note that you mentioned that your van fridge does not run on 12V.

What sort is it?

Most van fridges use 12V to maintain the fridge temperature while travelling (thru a feed from the vehicle's alternator on terminal 2 of the 7 pin plug - once wired in via a 20amp fuse & relay).

Looking at an earlier post I note that you have an '89 Aussie Tourer, so maybe the earlier vans didn't use the 12v arrangement.

-- Edited by Cupie at 16:56, 2008-12-23

mikeody · Veteran Member

Thanks guys - its what we thought although we will pass on the disco lights - unless some 'pole dancers' come with the lights !
Yes thats right about the frig.
It is an electrolux - works great as a frig but the freezer is much too small. An old model I guess that only has gas + 240V.
Its not a big issue for us though as I have no problem in using the gas to keep the frig cool when we stop - it can look after itself whilst we are travelling - the major issue will be keeping the freezer stuff well frozen hence the question re the 'stand alone battery'.

Cupie · Guru

Mike & Sue ..

Your signature "Tidak Apa-Apa" intrigued me so I looked up the amazing Google & found the meaning -

tidak apa-apa-titude: coined portmanteau word meaning " never-mind-ness" derived from the Malay of tidak-apa or never-mind or doesnt matter or even "think nothing of it"

portmanteau means - invented word combining sounds & meanings of two others.

Good one!!

-- Edited by Cupie at 05:56, 2008-12-24

mikeody · Veteran Member

We spend a LOT of time in Bali and Lombok - and I mean a LOT !
In bahasa indonesia [indonesian language] "Tidak apa-apa" has many meanings depending upon the circumstances when it is used.
A common meaning that gets a fair bit of use in Indonesia and one that 'fits' well with the australian language is "no worries".
We have a stone carving on our house by the front door that says it and are about to put it on the back of our van.
Mike and Sue

rabmail · Member

mikeody wrote:

In bahasa indonesia [indonesian language] "Tidak apa-apa" has many meanings depending upon the circumstances when it is used.
A common meaning that gets a fair bit of use in Indonesia and one that 'fits' well with the australian language is "no worries".

It is indeed a very common phase used by Indonesian's and Foreigners alike and roughly translates to "it doesn't matter" which as Mike says is the Australian expression "no worries"

I was suprised when I just saw it in the forum.

Dick

dave06 · Guru

yeah, clever little monkeys, but have they got a saying for "didjabringagrogalong"

mikeody · Veteran Member

Dont know how [or if !] they could say that !
All I know is that when I am hot and thirsty I stagger into a bar and say 'permisi, silakhan saya mau dua Bintang besar'.
By magic, two very large and very cold beers seem to appear every time !

Captain · Veteran Member

I recently took delivery of a new van and was surprised to find that the hot wire from the 7 pin flat connector on the van was the same size as the rest of the wires feeding the blinkers, tail lights etc. The wires on the caravan side are only about the size of a toothpick. I do have quite heavy gauge cable from my aux battery to the back of my vehicle with no voltage drop. I measured the voltage at the 150 litre, 3-way fridge while running on 12v and found an 8% voltage drop which is totally unsatisfactory. I think a 3% drop is considered the max. I have rectified the problem by fitting an Anderson plug to the caravan and now have almost no drop at all. As discussed elsewhere in this forum, anyone having problems with their fridge on 12 volt should have their wiring/voltage checked out. Why don't van manufacturers fit a larger gauge hot wire?

dave06 · Guru

yes unfortunately the van manufacturers still dont understand or want to know about our needs, if a fridge is present and the safety guidelines specify a certain size wire then that is what they put in, if the fridge runs without danger and meets the current design standards, to them, it is fine, to us it is not

most people that buy the vans dont check, or care about, the current drop, I am old school, I dont beleive a current drop of 3-5% is acceptable, I always double the stated current draw specified and then add 50% on top of that, one could almost "weld" with my feed wires

Basil Faulty · Guru

mikeody wrote:

We spend a LOT of time in Bali and Lombok - and I mean a LOT !
In bahasa indonesia [indonesian language] "Tidak apa-apa" has many meanings depending upon the circumstances when it is used.
A common meaning that gets a fair bit of use in Indonesia and one that 'fits' well with the australian language is "no worries".
We have a stone carving on our house by the front door that says it and are about to put it on the back of our van.
Mike and Sue

Now I have heard everything, I've seen people traveling with ornamental wind mills but putting a stone carving on the back of your van is just mind boggling, I spose it's a great conversation starter....

Basil Faulty · Guru

Well I've learnt something here. I always thought that a portmanteau was a large steamer chest that "gentleman" would use to store or carry his effects in while traveling, "port" being an abreviation for suitcase or school port being an abreviation for a shcool bag.....

Cupie · Guru

Basil Faulty wrote:

Well I've learnt something here. I always thought that a portmanteau was a large steamer chest that "gentleman" would use to store or carry his effects in while traveling, "port" being an abreviation for suitcase or school port being an abreviation for a shcool bag.....

Ahhh .. You are right of course .. Maybe I chould have used the complete dictionary entry that included ...

Portmanteau - "oblong case for clothes etc. opening in two equal parts - (then the bit that was applicable to my comment) - word - invented word combing sounds & meanings of two others"

My dictionary also has the entry for "port" - "Australian slang especially Qld & NSW - suitcase, travelling bag, (Qld also) shopping bag, sugar bag".

We have always used the word Port for all suitcases but never for shopping bags or sugar bags. So there U go.

Just like the Google entry that I chose attributed one meaning & language to the term in question, others familiar with the Bali use know it to be an Indonesian word & with a slightly different meaning .. Basil F also has a different & correct, understanding of the word Port/Portmanteau. (A steamer chest is rectangular (oblong) & does approximately open in two equal parts)

Gee we all learn unexpected things on this forum.

I am getting right off thread on this aren't I? So I'll shut up now.

-- Edited by Cupie at 19:45, 2008-12-29

Basil Faulty · Guru

Captain wrote:

I recently took delivery of a new van and was surprised to find that the hot wire from the 7 pin flat connector on the van was the same size as the rest of the wires feeding the blinkers, tail lights etc. The wires on the caravan side are only about the size of a toothpick. I do have quite heavy gauge cable from my aux battery to the back of my vehicle with no voltage drop. I measured the voltage at the 150 litre, 3-way fridge while running on 12v and found an 8% voltage drop which is totally unsatisfactory. I think a 3% drop is considered the max. I have rectified the problem by fitting an Anderson plug to the caravan and now have almost no drop at all. As discussed elsewhere in this forum, anyone having problems with their fridge on 12 volt should have their wiring/voltage checked out. Why don't van manufacturers fit a larger gauge hot wire?

On my Jayco I had a similar situation but the fridge was supplied 12 v via a thicker wire but the earth return which had to carry ALL the "used" current back to the vehicle was the thin wire as used in the wiring loom, once I fixed that everything worked well

Basil Faulty · Guru

Simple solution here, yes it means a bit of work but it simplfies the whole situation and it means your van fridge will work well. Rewire the whole shebang, get a 12 pin flat plug and socket and transfer the existing light wiring to the 7 pin side of things. Then get some w2302 http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/49593ce3044c30122740c0a87e01062d/Product/View/W2302
and run a wire direct via a 40 amp auto circuit breaker to it on the vehicle side then do likewise on the van to the fridge or charger. Then get the same wire in black and do likewise for the earth return. Use the BIG pins on the 12 pin flat for this.....
On the topic also check the wiring for the electric brakes on the van.... you would be amazed at how much better the barking is if you rewire that with a sensible sized wire on the vehicle side of things, Van brakes can pull well over 20 amps and if you use the standard 5 amp blue wire that comes in the loom as part of the tow bar package all you do is throttle the supply to the van brakes which you unknowingly correct by cranking up the output at the brake controller...

-- Edited by Basil Faulty at 07:23, 2008-12-30

dave06 · Guru

I'm constantly amused by little spelling foibles and how they change the whole subject matter from serious and enlightening to a very funny post

I'm not having a shot at you Basil just using this amongst many that I find as amusing

Basil wrote in the above thread "On the topic also check the wiring for the electric brakes on the van.... you would be amazed at how much better the barking is"

now I dont know about you, but I think better barking is a very important thing dont you???

JRH · Guru

G'day,

Most certainly, but make sure we do not bark up the wrong tree.

Basil Faulty · Guru

dave06 wrote:

I'm constantly amused by little spelling foibles and how they change the whole subject matter from serious and enlightening to a very funny post

I'm not having a shot at you Basil just using this amongst many that I find as amusing

Basil wrote in the above thread "On the topic also check the wiring for the electric brakes on the van.... you would be amazed at how much better the barking is"

now I dont know about you, but I think better barking is a very important thing dont you???

Especially if your dog is driving!!!!

mikeody · Veteran Member

No Basil,
Its NOT the stone carving thats going on the back of the van - just the words - probably in black sticky letters !
Sue has already pointed out the lack of clarity in my grammar but as the first 'grey nomad' to spot my grammatical incompetence you deserve a prize.
Problem is that I dont have one to give you !

Basil Faulty · Guru

mikeody wrote:

No Basil,
Its NOT the stone carving thats going on the back of the van - just the words - probably in black sticky letters !
Sue has already pointed out the lack of clarity in my grammar but as the first 'grey nomad' to spot my grammatical incompetence you deserve a prize.
Problem is that I dont have one to give you !

LOL.... I have 2 words for you my friend - Kia Ora.....
As the self appointed Hyacinth Bucket of this forum you grammar has been noted

dave06 · Guru

I didnt see his grammars post, I didnt welcome her to the forum, whats her name and what does she drive, where has she been

mikeody · Veteran Member

Apa ?